Virgin Money Giving fundraisers break through £¼ billion mark

20 June 2014

Virgin Money Giving fundraisers have raised more than £250 million since its launch

Over £9 million extra delivered to charities due to Virgin Money Giving’s low fees and not-for-profit model

Children's Health and Health Research are the most popular charity sectors

David, Paul and James are the most popular names of fundraisers

On the day that Virgin Money Giving, the not-for-profit online donation service from Virgin Money, announced that it has helped fundraisers to raise over £250 million (including Gift Aid) since its launch in late 2009, it also confirmed some interesting observations drawn from its own fundraising data.

Virgin Money Giving recently announced that donations had grown by over 11% year-on-year despite continuing pressure on overall levels of giving in the UK, illustrating the increasing popularity of Virgin Money Giving and online giving in general. Over 9,000 charities are now registered with Virgin Money Giving, including all of the top 10 charity brands*.

To mark the occasion, Virgin Money Giving took the opportunity to look back at what trends were revealed as it clocked-up the first £250 million in funds raised through its online service. They included:

The percentage of donations by charity sector is biggest for Children's Health (37%), followed by Health Research (31%)

The average donation by value is almost £39 (excluding Gift Aid)

The average donation value by women is around £31, and for men it is almost £48

People who set a target raise more - the average amount raised from pages with a target is more than twice as much as those without

The most popular names of those who have set up fundraising pages since launch are: David (c.10,000), Paul (c.8,000) and James (c.7,000)

The average age of fundraisers is 36 for females and 39 for men

The most popular type of fundraising event, based on pages created, is running, followed by cycling

As a result of Virgin Money Giving’s not-for-profit business model and low fees, it is estimated that since its launch an extra £9 million has been delivered to charities compared to its closest competitor. This is due to charging only a small fee (2%) on donations to ensure an effective service can be delivered to charities that is sustainable for the future. It does not make any charge for the collection of Gift Aid, which is collected on 86% donations, and there is no monthly fee for charities.

Jo Barnett, Executive Director at Virgin Money Giving said: "It has been a fantastic achievement by our fundraisers to hit that £1/4 billion landmark. We only launched in 2009 and are still a growing service, so to hit that level already is a great achievement. The total number of charity partners we support has now exceeded 9,000 and our pricing structure means that £9 million more has reached charities compared to our closest competitor.

“We have taken a look back at our data and revealed some of the key trends that have emerged as we hit this landmark, which we thought offered some interesting facts to accompany today’s announcement. It will be equally as interesting watching how those things change as our fundraisers raise the next £1/4 billion!”

*According to the Third Sector Research Charity Brand Index 2013, these are: Macmillan Cancer Support, Great Ormond St Hospital Children's Charity, Cancer Research UK, Help for Heroes, Royal British Legion, RNLI, British Heart Foundation, NSPCC, Comic Relief/Sport Relief, and Guide Dogs for the Blind Association.

Virgin Money Giving is the not-for-profit online fundraising arm of Virgin Money and was established in 2009. Virgin Money uses its infrastructure and expertise as a financial services business to ensure that Virgin Money Giving is efficient and secure

Virginmoneygiving.com is free for fundraisers, charges a flat registration fee of £100 + VAT for charities and a 2% fee on all donations before Gift Aid. For every £10 raised, charities receive £12.15. Virgin Money Giving charges charities the minimum fees needed to cover the running costs of the site. Any profit achieved after covering operating costs will go towards reducing fees further or improving services for fundraisers and charities

Fundraisers can personalise their fundraising pages, send out email alerts and manage their fundraising events. They can include their own content, photos and links to their page as well as customise messages for their supporters. Fundraisers can also link their page to social networking sites. Virgin Money Giving also contains fundraising ideas and tips, offering help and advice to fundraisers on how to raise more for charity

Virginmoneygiving.com is the official fundraising partner of events that include the Virgin Money London Marathon, Royal Parks Half Marathon, Nike Run to the Beat and the Virgin Money Cyclone